A review by pagepixie
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I was struggling to pick a book to be my first read of 2023 and then I remembered this one and decided it was the prefect reread, pick-me-up to start the year. 

This book is like a collection of inspirational quotes and I honestly just enjoy reading it out loud to myself. It feels like self-affirmations and makes me a little emotional. 

The whole thing is a metaphor for life. Each character embodies an emotion, insecurity, or fear we all have as humans. One of my favorite dialogues is: 

“Sometimes I want to say I love you all,” said the mole, “but I find it difficult.” 
“Do you?” said the boy. 
“Yes, so I say something like I’m glad we’re all here.” 
“Ok.” Said the boy. 
“I’m glad we’re all here.”

Like that makes me swell with emotion every time. I would literally tattoo this on my body. It’s so simple but it says so much. 

As an artist though, my favorite part of this book is the illustrations. They’re so raw and illicit even more emotion from me than the words. Often the drawings don’t even have words to accompany them, they just speak for themselves. 

Maybe it’s cheating to count this as my first book of the year, but I don’t care. This year is one I’m dedicating to myself and this book feels like it was dedicated to all of us.